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Palushaj, Barrie stepping up for Avs

Young players getting ice time as injuries mount

By Mike Chambers The Denver Post

Posted:
02/15/2013 11:16:49 PM MST

Updated:
02/15/2013 11:16:50 PM MST

DENVER -- At the peak of the Ryan O'Reilly turmoil, two other young Avalanche players had breakout games Thursday in a 4-3 shootout victory at Minnesota. Defenseman Tyson Barrie logged a team-high 25:58 of ice time and winger Aaron Palushaj scored his first goal with the team in his second game.Barrie, 21, has been asked to replace the injured Erik Johnson and run the point on the Avs' No. 1 power play. The unit had only two opportunities against the Wild, but Barrie helped setup Milan Hejduk's power-play goal to give Colorado a 2-1 lead.

Earlier, the 23-year-old Palushaj capped a nice passing play by linemates Paul Stastny and David Jones to give the Avs a 1-0 lead. Palushaj outraced a defender to the net and tapped in Jones's centering feed.

"I thought he played well," Avs coach Joe Sacco said of Palushaj. "It was a good play by Jonesey, who made a nice pass over to him. (Palushaj) did some good things offensively. I cut him back a little bit in the third (period), when it was a tie game. But certainly he's got some offensive jam to his game that I like."

Palushaj was picked up off waivers Feb. 5, after he came off the Montreal Canadiens' injured reserve list. He began the season with Montreal's American Hockey League affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs, but was recovering from a fractured collarbone when the lockout ended last month. Once he was medically cleared, Montreal had to put him on waivers to send him back to Hamilton.

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Instead, the Avs picked him up, to help replace injured forwards Steve Downie and Gabriel Landeskog, plus O'Reilly, the high-profile restricted free agent who is in a contract dispute with the club.

Palushaj said he is thrilled to be with the Avs, particularly because he is playing left wing on Stastny's line.

"It's unbelievable," he said. "I felt this year I was really ready to prove myself in the NHL. With the lockout, it was tough, and then I got injured. I'm really grateful for this opportunity."

Palushaj is from Livonia, Mich., and he played two seasons for the University of Michigan, producing 94 points (23 goals) in 82 games as a freshman and sophomore. Before his freshman season with the Wolverines, he was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the second round (44th overall), but was traded to Montreal for Matt D'Agostini in 2010 during his first full pro season. He played in three games with the Canadiens in 2010-11 (zero points) and 38 last season (one goal, five points).

His goal Thursday was the second of his NHL career.

"I thought I played a pretty good game," Palushaj said afterward. "I thought I could have got a couple (goals) but it was nice to get that one. It was a good goal and I was happy to help the team."

Landeskog skates

For the first time since suffering a likely concussion Jan. 26, Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog skated Friday.

Landeskog, 20, skated for an unspecified length of time at the team's practice facility, with Avs medical personnel looking on. Neither Landeskog nor the team commented on where he is in his recovery. A team official described Friday's skating session as "going through the process" of recovery.

It is unclear when Landeskog will skate next, but the team hopes it will be on a continuing basis.

Landeskog suffered a head injury after taking a big hit from San Jose's Brad Stuart last month. He played the rest of the game after missing a few shifts, but suffered symptoms the next day. The Swedish left winger won the NHL's rookie of the year award in 2011-12.

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